1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electric motors and more particularly pertains to an electric motor end housing which has a quickly detachable bearing plate assembly to enable the rotor to be reversed by rotating it end for end, so as to provide an electric motor which may be run in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of refrigeration, it is quite common to use a plurality of electric motors within a particular refrigeration system that by necessity must either rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Accordingly, during periodic system malfunctions, a repairman is often faced with the problem of having to replace a motor which rotates in either one or the other of the aforementioned directions. As such, it is necessary that a repairman always carry with him a supply of both clockwise and counterclockwise rotating motors, inasmuch as motors are normally designed to rotate in only one direction. By the same token, it should be noted that the motors may be identically constructed, with the direction of rotation of the motor being controlled by the positioning of the rotor within the motor housing. Specifically, certain motors that rotate in a clockwise direction may be made to rotate in a counterclockwise direction simply by reversing their rotors within their housings. This reversal is accomplished by axially extracting the rotor from the housing and then reversing the rotor by turning it end for end and reinserting it.
While it would normally appear to be an easy operation to reverse an electric motor rotor for the purpose of reversing the motor's direction of rotation, problems exist in accomplishing such a reversal due to the construction of the motor. Specifically, commercially available motors provided for driving fans and the like in refrigeration systems have housings which are assembled in such a manner that the rotor cannot be reversed without destroying the housing.
There has been at least one attempt to design a motor which would employ the use of a reversible rotor, thus to provide a motor that may be driven in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,544, issued to McKinnon et al on Sept. 23, 1980, discloses a fan motor having a reversible rotor. However, the McKinnon et al motor is a C-frame motor which requires that a plurality of retaining members and brackets must be removed from an end portion of the electric motor, before the rotor can be removed therefrom for the purpose of axial reversal. Accordingly, it can be appreciated that there still exists a need for a new and improved reversible fan motor which would permit quick and easy rotor reversal and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.